"Despite its name, the Elephant Gambit is a carnivore among chess openings!"
-- Tim Harding

This is a fascinating opening that can yield great results against the unprepared. It makes for exciting Chess win or lose.

The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queen's Pawn Counter Gambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves:
<1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5!?>

In this gambit, Black ignores the attack on his e-pawn and immediately tries to wrest the initiative from White. The main idea is that Black has sacrificed a pawn to gain a move and must obtain compensation for it. The resulting position can be sharp for White, and thus may be a good surprise opening for Black. It is generally considered unsound, because if White plays accurately Black does not get sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. One of the Elephant Gambit's leading modern-day exponents is Philip Corbin.

Lines

Unfortunately, White is able to capture either of Black's center pawns with the advantage, either by 3. exd5 or 3. Nxe5. With a center pawn removed, Black is in a passive position with White clearly having the initiative as White controls more space.
A typical line might continue

a) <3.exd5 e4> (3...Qxd5 saves the pawn, but leaves White with a big lead in development after 4.Nc3) <4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Qxd5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.dxe4 Qe6> and White remains a pawn ahead, though Black's development is somewhat smoother.